After dropping the opener of the series against St. Clous last night, the Bismarck Larks returned to the diamond on Sunday to finish out the set against the Rox. The Rox used a masterfully pitching performance and an explosion in the ninth to take the series finale.

The story of the night was Rox starter, Piercen McElyea (Tarleton State). The sophomore went 7.1 innings of one-run (unearned)  baseball and tied the Rox’ single-game franchise record for strikeouts, fanning an incredible 14 batters throughout his outing. 

The Rox got their runs in the second, fourth, and ninth innings. St. Cloud Catcher Sid deMayo (Nebraska Omaha) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and then Noah Greise (Nebraska Omaha) put a ball in play that couldn’t be handled by the Larks defense, allowing Michael McNamara (Kent State) to score to make it 2-0.

In the fourth, the Rox played lone ball. Ripken Reese (Kent State) and Jose Gonzalez (Ave Maria) went back-to-back with two out solo shots to double to lead to 4-0. Then, in the ninth, the Rox sent 10 men to the dish and scored six runs. Jose Gonzalez and Michael McNamara both hit RBI doubles, and the lead was out to eight. The Larks would score their two runs on wild pitches, but only two runs wouldn’t nearly be enough, as the Larks would lose 10-2 and drop their eighth consecutive to the Rox. 

St. Cloud finishes 10-2 against the Larks this summer and uses a fourth straight sweep to finish the year off against the yellow birds. 

On the mound for the Larks, Alec Danen (Mary) picked up his fight loss of the summer after going seven complete and giving up three earned. The Metro Area Fastest Pitch of the Game was clocked at 91 mph from Colton Dorsey (Wallace Dothan) in the eighth.

The Fetzer Electric Play of the Game came in the very first inning. With one out, first baseman Garret Hill was able to turn an unassisted double play on a pop-up to get the Larks out of a jam

Bismarck returns for the fifth game of its final homestand Monday at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark. The Mankato MoonDogs are in town for one last two-game series with the Larks. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. CT. It is also Hispanic Heritage Night, presented by Dakota Eye Institute. Come celebrate Hispanic Heritage Night with the Larks! Enjoy fun music and festivities throughout the night.